The Lowdown Dual-display Machines

Laptops and tablets with two screens are Intel’s and Asus’s vision of future computing.

DUAL SCREENS ON LAPTOPS… REALLY?

Yep. At Computex 2018, Intel showed off two prototype devices that looked like some strange splicing of a laptop, tablet, eReader and notepad.

The chipmaker didn’t make too much of a song and dance about its prototypes in the same way as it did with its new chips, but the prototypes suggest Windows 10 mobile devices could take a fresh direction.

Tiger Rapids is the codename Intel gave its first prototype, which despite the wild-at-heart name, wasn’t inspired by nature but Moleskine notebooks instead.

With a hinge that apes those found on serious-looking laptops, the device has two 7.9in displays. But rather than slot two tablets together, only the ‘page’ on the left is a full-fat touchscreen, while the right side is an electronic paper display. The idea is that the left screen serves as a display for Windows 10 desktop and apps, while the right screen is designed to be scribbled on with a stylus, even incorporating a little flex in it to simulate writing on paper.

At a mere 4.85mm, the digital notepad-meets-computer still squeezes in an Intel Kaby Lake generation processor, an SSD and a single USB-C port, as is the fashion with slim laptops these days – looking at you, MacBook.

OK, WHAT ABOUT THE SECOND GADGET?